All The Buzz: S.T.E.M.

Everywhere you turn these days, people are engaged in a meaningful dialogue about the importance of S.T.E.M. - from the recent articles in Black Enterprise Magazine and the Black EOE Journal, to NPR's Diane Rehm Show which aired yesterday.   On the segment "The New Cool" with guest Neal Bascomb --the host, Diane Rehm, cited President Obama's call to action in January's State of the Union Address: "America must out innovate, out educate and out build."  But what many people do not realize is that this is not a new phenomenon to the President.  President Obama has emphasized the importance and criticality of America's investment in S.T.E.M. for years, even dating back to his days as a Senator when he wrote about his visit to Google in the chapter on Opportunity in The Audacity of Hope.  During January 2010, President Obama announced in Chicago during a press conference his plans to expand the "Educate to Innovate" campaign by earmarking $250 million in a public-private effort to increase the number and quality of STEM teachers [Source: The Christian Science Monitor]. 

           [Credit: Charles Dharapak/Associated Press]

For those of you who are unaware, what exactly is S.T.E.M. and what is the history behind it?  The Black EOE Journal reports: "S.T.E.M. (Science Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) represents the core building blocks of technological advancement in our society.  It has been publically stated, that, 'maintaining a citizenry well versed in the STEM fields is a key portion of the public education agenda of the US.'  The truth is that S.T.E.M.'s importance carries on far past the public education agenda, and, throughout the past three decades, lead to the largest and widespread innovations that our country has ever seen.  From Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology instruments, to Data feeders in the sky to stop collisions, S.T.E.M. fields are widely receiving more recognition than ever before."  For more information on the history of S.T.E.M., dating back to 1944 and FDR - click here.

So - what relevance does this have to you and your kids?  If we don't take a stand in America on the importance of S.T.E.M. with present and future generations, other countries like France, Finland, Hong Kong, China, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, UK, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark will continue to outpace the US in math and science.  This will mean that we will not be able to compete globally, and these generations at stake will not be considered for the jobs that require these skills in the next few decades.   

Project Still I Rise understands this critical dilemma, and has programs like Project Excel - which teaches robotics to program recipients, and initatives like the First Annual Community S.T.E.M. Empowerment Conference held in late February of this year at UNT Dallas to tackle this issue head on.  Be sure to visit PSIR's Facebook page for more pictures from the conference...

[CSEC Town Hall Panelists]